Loaded: Facebook gaydar

September 22, 2009

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SONY ERICCSON RELEASES MOTION-CENSORED EARBUDS, SONY BRINGS ITS
MUSIC TO AMIE STREET, AND HOW TO TELL SOMEONE'S SEXUAL ORIENTATION
OVER FACEBOOK. OR MAYBE HOW NOT TO DO THAT. IT'S TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER
22ND. I'M NATALI DEL CONTE AND IT'S TIME TO GET LOADED.
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AS EXPECTED, THE FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION DISCUSSED A NEW
PLAN FOR NET NEUTRALITY ON MONDAY. FCC CHAIR JULIUS GENACHOWSKI
PROPOSED TWO NEW TENANTS OF NET NEUTRALITY. THE FIRST WOULD
PROVENT INTERNET ACCESS PROVIDERS FROM DISCRIMINATING AGAINST
PARTICULAR CONTENT OR APPLICATIONS, WHILE ALLOWING FOR REASONABLE
NETWORK MANAGEMENT. THE SECOND WOULD ENSURE THAT INTERNET
ACCESS PROVIDERS ARE TRANSPARENT ABOUT THE NETWORK MANAGEMENT
PRACTICES THAT THEY IMPLEMENT. HE WAS CAREFUL TO POINT OUT THAT
THESE NEW PRINCIPLES ARE NOT DESIGNED TO SLOW INNOVATION IN THE
DIGITAL WORLD AND THAT THESE RULES WILL APPLY ACROSS MEDIUMS:
BROADBAND, MOBILE, AND SATELLITE. MAGGIE REARDON HAS A MORE IN-
DEPTH ARTICLE ABOUT THIS PROPOSAL. TO READ IT IN FULL, VISIT NEWS.COM.
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SONY ERICCSON UNVEILED A NEW SET OF EARBUDS THAT STOP PLAYING MUSIC
WHEN YOU PULL THEM OUT OF YOUR EARS. THIS IS KIND OF COOL. THE MH907
WILL AUTOMATICALLY TURN OFF YOUR MUSIC WHEN AN EARBUD IS REMOVED
FROM YOUR EAR. WHEN YOU PUT IT BACK, THE MUSIC WILL START BACK UP
AGAIN. THE SAME MOTION CAN ALSO INITIATE AND END CALLS IF CONNECTED
TO A PHONE. WE DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH THESE WILL COST JUST YET. I LIKE
THIS! IT MEANS I DON'T HAVE TO PAUSE MY MP3 PLAYER WHEN SOMEONE TRIES
TO TALK TO ME. ALTHOUGH WHEN I HAVE EARBUDS IN MY EARS, I KIND OF
DON'T LIKE TO BE TALKED TO.
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IT'S YOU! THAT IS YAHOO'S NEW AD CAMPAIGN SLOGAN. IT'S YOU. THE
COMPANY'S CEO CAROL BARTZ IS CALLING THIS A REPOSITIONING OF YAHOO.
BUT I'M NOT EXACTLY SURE WHAT "IT" IS. IS YAHOO ME? AND THEREFORE AM I
YAHOO? I'M NOT SURE I WANT TO BE YAHOO. OR IS "IT" THE
ANTHROMORPHIZING OF MY ONLINE LIFE? IN WHICH CASE, I AM MY DIGITAL
SELF? IT'S YOU. VERY EXISTENTIAL.
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IF YOU LIVE IN CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA, YOU MIGHT BE ABLE TO GET
LEGITIMATE 3G SPEEDS ON AT&T WITH THE NEW 3G MICROCELL. THIS DEVICE
PIGGYBACKS THE BROADBAND IN YOUR HOME TO GIVE YOU HSDPA 3G SPEEDS IN
YOUR HOME. IT COSTS $150 AND THE SERVICE IS FREE. IT BETTER BE THOUGH.
YOU ARE ALREADY PAYING FOR A 3G PHONE AND YOUR HOME BROADBAND.
WOULDN'T IT BE NICE IF DIDN'T NEED THIS THOUGH AND 3G WAS REALLY 3G?
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YOU CAN NOW SYNC YOUR MYSPACE PAGE TO YOUR TWITTER FEED. THIS MEANS
THAT YOUR MYSPACE STATUS UPDATE CAN BE WHATEVER YOU'RE POSTING ON
TWITTER. CURRENTLY I HAVE THIS SYNCED TO HAPPEN ON MY FACEBOOK PAGE.
I LINKED IT UP TO MY MYSPACE PAGE YESTERDAY. ONE COOL THING ABOUT THIS
IS THAT IT IS A TWO-WAY SYNC SO WHATEVER YOU POST IN MYSPACE CAN BE
PUSHED TO YOUR TWITTER FEED AS WELL. NIFTY.
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GOOGLE EARTH HAS IMPROVED ITS ABILITY TO HELP YOU EXPLORE THE OCEAN
FLOOR. AN UPDATED OCEANS EXPEDITIONS LAYER IN THE PROGRAM WILL
SHOW DATA FROM EITHER RECENT EXPEDITIONS OR HISTORICAL EXPEDITIONS.
YOU CAN CLICK ON ANY EXPEDITION AND DOWNLOAD ALL THE DATA THE
EXPLORER IN YOU COULD POSSIBLY WANT.
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NETFLIX IS LOOKING TO GIVE AWAY ANOTHER $1 MILLION. THE COMPANY
RECENTLY AWARDED $1 MILLION TO CONTEST WINNERS WHO SUCCESSFULLY
IMPROVED THE COMPANY'S MOVIE RECOMMENDATION ENGINE. THE NEW
CONTEST IS FOR ANYONE WHO CAN PREDICT MOVIE BEHAVIOR BASED ON USERS
WHO DON'T RATE MOVIES OR GIVE AWAY MUCH DATA. CONTESTANTS WILL
TAKE AGE, ZIP CODE, AND OTHER BASICS ABOUT USERS AND TRY TO PREDICT
MOVIE PREFERENCE AND ENJOYMENT. THE LAST CONTEST TOOK THREE YEARS.
NETFLIX SMARTLY PUT A TIME LIMIT OF ONE YEAR ON THIS ONE.
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CHRYSLER IS GOING TO BE THE FIRST AUTOMAKER TO PROVIDE DIGITAL
OWNERS MANUALS FOR ALL 2010 CARS. THIS MEANS NO 5-POUND MANUAL
TAKING UP SPACE IN YOUR GLOVE COMPARTMENT. THE COMPANY ESTIMATES
THAT THIS COULD SAVE 930 TONS OF PAPER, OR THE EQUIVALENT OF 20,000
TREES PER YEAR. INSTEAD, DRIVERS LOOKING TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO OPEN
THE GAS TANK WILL BE ABLE TO REFER TO A DVD AND FULL-COLOR PRINTED
USER GUIDE THAT WILL BE NO LONGER THAN 80 PAGES. I SAY THEY PUT THESE
THINGS ONLINE TOO. ALTHOUGH WHO REALLY READS THEIR OWNERS MANUAL?
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SONY IS GOING TO START SELLING ITS MUSIC ON AMIE STREET, A MUSIC
DISCOVERY AND PURCHASE SITE. SONGS WILL BE PRICED AT 69 CENTS, 99
CENTS, OR $1.29 BASED ON POPULARITY. AMIE STREET DOESN'T NORMALLY
PRICE MUSIC THAT WAY, THEY HAVE A TIERED PRICING SCHEME WHERE THE
MOST UNPOPULAR SONGS ARE THE CHEAPEST AND THE PRICE RISES THE MORE
THE SONG IS DOWNLOADED. I GUESS SONY DOESN'T WANT TO PLAY THAT GAME
WITH ITS MUSIC SO IT IS GOING TO SET ITS OWN PRICING RULES. I'M SLIGHTLY
SURPRISED THAT AMIE WOULD ALLOW THIS BUT IN THE END, NOT ALL THAT
SURPRISED. EXPERIMENTING WITH PRICING MODELS IS APPROPRIATE AT THIS
STAGE OF THE GAME.
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CAN YOU TELL SOMEONE'S SEXUAL ORIENTATION FROM THEIR FACEBOOK PAGE?
I'M NOT TALKING ABOUT IN THE "INTERESTED IN..." SECTION, I'M TALKING
ABOUT USING STATISTICAL FRIEND ANALYSIS. TWO MIT STUDENTS CLAIM THAT
YOU CAN. CARTER JERNIGAN AND BEHRAM MISTREE CONDUCTED A STUDY
WHICH THEY ARE CALLING GAYDAR. THEY SCANNED THE FRIEND LISTS OF OVER
1,500 STUDENTS. THEY FOUND THAT HOMOSEXUAL MEN HAVE MORE GAY
FRIENDS THAN STRAIGHT MEN. SO IF YOU HAVE A LOT OF GAY FRIENDS, YOU
MUST BE GAY. THAT IS NOT RIVETING RESEARCH. I THINK A GRADE SCHOOLER
COULD HAVE FIGURED THAT OUT.
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THOSE ARE ALL OF YOUR HEADLINES FOR TODAY. THANK YOU FOR WATCHING.
I'M NATALI DEL CONTE WITH CNET TV AND YOU'VE JUST BEEN LOADED.